Excerpted from "Santa Monica Pier: America’s Last Great Pleasure Pier" by James Harris (Angel City Press, 2024) For more than two decades, James Harris has been the executive director of the ...

The Santa Monica Pier was built to run sewage into the ocean in 1909. The amusement park concept developed in 1916 during the heyday of pleasure piers, which populated coastal towns nationwide.

The rollercoaster roars past overhead and seagulls chatter endlessly. Santa Monica Pier is nothing short of iconic. It’s synonymous with the City and is instantly recognizable whenever it’s ...

And just about the biggest illuminated thing around is the Pacific Wheel at Pacific Park, located at Santa Monica Pier. Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning ...

Donate now. Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr On September 9th, the Santa Monica Pier celebrated its Centennial. Fireworks lit up the sky and thousands of ...